Disability Thinking Weekday: 12/19/24
Syria, accessibility trends, and perspectives on "Wicked"
Three more disability links for Thursday, December 19, 2024.
1. Inclusive Resilience: Euro 6.45 million from Finland to Empower Persons with Disabilities to Lead Community Transformation in Syria
United Nations Development Programme - December 17, 2024
“The project will follow a comprehensive approach integrating community-led initiatives with social protection, capacity building and inclusive policy advocacy. This multifaceted approach, focusing on immediate and sustained impacts at both individual and community levels, will ensure that PWDs are not merely recipients of aid but active contributors to their communities.”
This certainly seems like just the sort of help disability communities in war-ravaged and chaotic countries need. It’s not just the money, though money is essential. It’s making sure that the people who design and implement programs for disabled people are, for the most part, mostly disabled themselves. That doesn’t guarantee everything will turn out great. Disabled-led nonprofits in the U.S., UK, and elsewhere screw up all the time. But especially in regions where top-down, dictatorial rule has been the norm, and where nonprofit institutions need to be built almost from scratch, it’s best to start out with disabled people in charge and bringing their real-life experiences to bear. Hopefully, the promise of this announcement will actually play out in Syria, and do some real, sustainable good for Syrians with disabilities — and for Syria as a whole.
2. 10 trends in Accessibility for 2025
Christiane Link, The Accessible Link - December 16, 2024
“More and more disabled people don’t accept discrimination and exclusion anymore. The boomer generation still expects to travel when they’re 70 or older. The mindset shifts towards acceptance of disability and age-related needs instead of staying at home. That’s actually good news but the systems need to change to meet these customer expectations.”
This is the great hope for accessibility in the future, and the reason for its urgency. Through numerous political gains and setbacks, the genera trajectory for disabled culture is higher expectations, including for better and more seamless accessibility. 30 years ago, it was actually decent advice to suggest that disabled people should be prepared to accept and adapt to spotty, sloppy, or non-existent accessibility. We still have to deal with imperfections today. But we do seem to be past the point where being overly “reasonable” about our demands is, in fact, reasonable. We can and should accept much better now. And we can and should feel free to object, strongly, when we don’t get it. This wrap-up of 2024 and look ahead outlines some specific ways that accessibility in transportation may improve in the coming year.
3. Is Nessarose a huge win for "Wicked"? It's complicated
Kristen Lopez, Salon - December 5, 2024
“However, questions remain about how the movie will combat the ableistic plot twists of the stage musical, from Nessarose becoming a villain to receiving a “magic” cure.”
I still haven’t seen “Wicked.” But I’m pleased to see a nuanced, detailed exploration of disability themes and meanings of the film. Kristen Lopez has written a lot about disability themes and disabled artists in TV and film. And she does a good job here of pointing out some markers to look for in “Wicked.” There’s some good, and some not so good. Maybe that makes the overall message and impact stronger. I don’t know. When I finally see the film, maybe I’ll have more to say. Feel free to comment if you have!
Disability Thinking Weekday is moving!
As explained in the December 2 newsletter, we are moving from Substack to Ghost on January 1, 2025. Readers shouldn’t need to do anything at all to stay with Disability Thinking Weekday. Both free and paid memberships should transfer seamlessly, as-is. But you can also help me out with the approximately $400 in moving expenses by clicking the link here to make a one-time donation through Ko-Fi. And if your paid membership is about to expire, it might be easier to wait until after January 1 and renew them at the new Ghost site. Annual paid memberships will be discounted at $40 for the rest of December and January.
I’m excited by the move. It’s shaping up well. And your extra support is greatly appreciated!